ONLINE EXCLUSIVE:
Eating on Campus: What’s your take?
NIO U N
SPORTS, Page 7: Warrior’s Baseball Victory at Santa Barbara
March, 7, 2013
EL CAMINO COLLEGE
Learning about history through taste
The Dream Act aims to help students reach goals Karen Garcia Staff Writer
Kyle Borden/ Union Dayja Turner, 24, undecided major, attends the “Taste of Soul” event in the East Dining Room, after hearing about the event in her history 110 class; while Shalissa Barnett from the Cal Works Office serves food to Dayja.
Torrance, California
With the passing of assembly bills AB130 and AB131, the California Dream Act authored by assembly member Gil Cedillo became a law extending certain grants and college free waivers to students. This law gives students, documented and undocumented, that meet the AB540 criteria eligibility to apply for state funded financial aid. AB540 was created to give students that meet the requirements the ability to pay the same tuition and fees as students who are residents attending California community colleges and universities, according to the California Dream Act website. The site goes on to inform that to be considered as an AB540 applicant, a student is required to have attended a California high school for at least three years. The student must have also graduated from high school or obtained the equivalent, California High School Proficiency Exam or passing the GED.
A student must also be registered as an entering or currently enrolled student in an accredited institution of higher education in California in the fall semester or quarter of 2001 to 2002 of the academic year. If a student does not have legal documentation they must file or will file an application that will legalize their documentation status. According to the Financial Aid Office, a student that meets the AB540 requirements and applies for the Dream Act may also be eligible to qualify for a free waiver that will pay for the student’s classes. Within the same application forms for the Dream Act, a student can also apply for a Cal Grant as well. Now that this opportunity is available to students there are various options in which a student can apply for aid to fund their educational needs that may not have otherwise been avaiable before the Dream Act was instated. There are many students that are taking advantage of the Dream Act aid, and are submitting their applications just as they would
for financial aid “as the deadline, similar for the filing of financial aid, is March 2,” Rene Lozano, EC counselor said. “It’s just like any other grant. A check is sent to the student’s home and that student can use the funds according to his or her needs,” Lozano said. He also comments that many students are unaware of the benefits that this program can provide them with according to their financial education needs. “Depending on their financial need it can be used for books or gas for school; whatever they need. The only difference between this grant and other grants is that it is state funded, it’s not federally funded,” Lozano said. Lozano is also the advisor for the El Camino Dreamers Club, a the group of members that reach out to those in need of assistance or support with the program as well as raising awareness about this option for students. Lozano added that there will be workshops for the Dream Act soon to inform students and others about the aid that is available to them.
Child Development Center closure gets a time-out Johnysha Vercher Staff Writer
Closure of the Child Development Center would be seen as the end of a program that is vital for students and the community. Since 1993, the Child Development Center (CDC) has been a safe haven for students with children at EC, as well as the community, Sandra Parvis, Director of the EC Child Development Center, said. Helping thousands of children and families over the course of its existence, the CDC provides not just a simple daycare service, but a fee-based preschool program for young children, according to the CDC guidelines. Though the CDC has helped many through the years, enroll-
ment for the past year has been low. Because of low enrollment and the cost of maintenance, the CDC may not have much of a future left, Jasmine Hormati, student trustee said. Though enrollment for the CDC has been low, there are still students benefitting from the program “My son started going there 3 semesters ago, so a little over a year,” Jennifer Galardo, 21, business administration major said. “It’s not just a daycare its a preschool and they teach your kids.” Closure of the CDC would be very difficult for those who actually depend on the program. Without the program many parents would not have to ability to attend college.
“I would’ve had to drop out of school, it would be detrimental for parents and single mothers if it closed,”Galardo said. “Before, I had a babysitter but she had gotten sick, she had cancer so she couldnt watch my son, I found out about the Child Development Center and with caregrant they provided help and paid for the program.” For students at EC, the CDC helps them to be able to further their education and coincidentally that of their child or children, Galardo said Despite the costly issue the school faced with the CDC, the Board of Trustees inevitability decided to prolong the lifeline of the CDC, Parvis said. The board of trustees decided to not close the center after a 5-1
vote, she added. “The board decided to keep it open for another year,” Hormati said. “Their current director is going to be retiring so they’re looking for a new director.” Though changes to the CDC are bound to happen, it is for the betterment of the students, community and most of importantly the children to extend the closure. “They have different ideas of how they can not only make it a better program for children but also for our students that are in the Child Development program at EC,” Hormati said. “Sometime next year the board will decided whether or not they will keep it open.” Ultimately the CDC has many benefits to the program and just as much support for it to stay open.
Troy Tieuel/ Union Lead teacher, Angela Wilson from the Child Development Center, gets hugs from her gets hugs from the students in her class as they prepare for choice play. “We need all the support that we can get,”Wilson said, who has been with the CDC since since 2005.
Through the years, the CDC has served countless families of EC
students and will continue to do so with consistent support.
Mixed emotions for new MBA Building
The many responsibilities of President Fallo
Steven Tran
Monique Judge
Staff Writer
NEWS LINE
The doors of EC’s new Math, Business and Allied Health Building have finally opened this semester with high hopes to improve the learning experience for students. “The building is just so functional. There are places to gather, wireless Internet for interaction, and more than enough room; Everything about the building is conducive to learning,” Mike Botello, professor of business said. “It’s a lot like the Humanities Building, it’s set up by the same
By Chance Keenan
architect and has a lot of the same features and benefits,” Thomas E. Brown, Director of Facilities Planning and Services, said. The fourth floor of the MBA Building is dedicated toward an “Allied Health” program. Nursing, Respiratory Therapy, and Radiology programs are centralized into a single unit. “It’s nice that we have new technology; Once upon a time, our newest technology was the door itself,” Nenna Olumba, 26, nursing major, said. “It has the environment of an actual hospital as far as oxygen, headboards and all the things of
that nature, it looks like a regular hospital,” Brown said. Though there have been a few glitches, it’s important to consider that the building is new and there is a continuing effort to fix malfunctions, Brown added. “Everything has its problems, and we are just ironing out the kinks, and trying to get used to a building that we are not really used to,” Olumba said. “We were already in a building that was more-or-less broken in, we are sort of breaking this one in,” she added.
Black college fair today on Library Lawn
Cherry Blossom Festival Today near Planetarium
Undecided Major workshop
Social Justice Fair Tuesday
Daylight Savings begins Sunday
The Black College Fair will be on the Library Lawn today from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m today. Learn about transfer agreements and speak with representatives from numerous historically Black colleges. A workshop is also scheduled to run from 1 to 2 p.m. in the Distance Education Conference room.
The 13th Annual Dr. Nadine Ishitani Hata Memorial Cherry Blossom Festival will be taking place today from 1 to 2 p.m. next to the Planetarium. Light refreshments, presentations and performances will take place near the Cherry Blossom trees on campus.
An Undecided Major Workshop will take place Tuesday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Social Sciences Building, Room 207. For more information, contact the Career Services Center 310660-3593 ext. 6137.
The first annual Social Justice fair will be taking place on the Library Lawn Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m, sponsored by EC Student Development Office and EC Feminist Alliance Club. Multiple organizations, both local and national, will be in attendance.
Get ready for longer days and shorter nights. Daylight Savings Time will begin at 2 a.m. on Sunday morning. Be sure to remember to set your clocks ahead one hour.
Co-Opinion Editor
There are a number of people on the EC campus that do not understand what it is that Tom Fallo, EC president and district superintendent, does for the campus and community. Ken Brown, vice president of the EC board of trustees does not find this surprising. His explanation of Fallo’s job likens the college president to that of a CEO of
a corporation. “He is the CEO of El Camino. Different campuses call it different things,” Brown said. “He works for the board. He is the tip of the spear of how things get done on the campus,” Brown added. Fallo, who has been at EC since 1991, oversees operations at both the Torrance campus and the Compton center. Fallo himself views his role as one in which he serves the EC com-
munity as a whole. “I’m part of a team. I’m part of a community,” Fallo said. Brown said that Fallo’s job is to “implement the policy set forth by the board.” Fallo agreed with this assessment, and said that he “reports to five people,” referring to the board of trustees. “He’s the person that has to run the campus. He not only does it for the Torrance campus, but he also does it for the
Compton center as well,” Brown added. A common misconception is that Fallo makes all decisions concerning the campus. “He doesn’t make the policy, but he has to enforce the policy that the board sets,” Brown said. As previously reported in the Union, the board of trustees recently voted to give Fallo a raise in order to encourage him to reconsider his [See Fallo, Page 2]